The Diary of Opal Whiteley - Opal Whiteley, Nan Gurley who was Opal Whiteley? child prodigy, mystical nature writer, charlatan, fraud, illegitimate daughter of the Prince of Orleans, misunderstood child in turn-of-the-century Washington state, dangerous guy-magnet in colonial India, mentally unbalanced ward of an English institution, victim, or visionary? who knows. it's a mystery!

so is this Diary. written - perhaps - by a wiser-than-her-years and rather disturbed 16-year old, the story of this young lady's life in nature and with her adopted family contains many moments that charm (animals given disconcertingly adult names) and that impress (her intimate connection with nature). it also gave me the creeps, eventually. some of the strange names she chose, the often infantile perspective, her extremely literal interpretation of words and events... what started off as, by turns, resonant and amusing and a little heartwarming, a little heartbreaking, became... less so. and then, slowly but surely, almost unbearably odd. there is such an eeriness to the voice. overall, the Diary is certainly a kind of oddball achievement.

who cares if this was written by a slightly demented natural in the rural States or a more sophisticated, poverty-sticken American expat in Britain? whatever its origin, it is bizarre and unique and strangely moving.